The ninth floor materialized around Jack as he landed in a crouch, his awareness immediately cataloging the new environment despite disorientation from the forced ejection through silver light.
The chamber was circular, fifty meters across, with walls constructed from polished black stone that reflected ambient light from no visible source.
The ceiling curved overhead in a dome that altered the acoustics, making every sound echo with a strange resonance.
At the chamber's center stood the altar.
A massive obsidian mirror, easily twenty feet tall and half as wide, its surface cracked with fractures that spiderwebbed across the reflective plane.
The cracks glowed faintly with silver light, pulsing with a rhythm that matched something Jack couldn't quite identify but felt disturbingly familiar.
Jack approached slowly, scanning for threats while his eyes tracked the mirror's surface for signs of magical contamination or hidden mechanisms.
The reflection showed him clearly.
